


love is for losers who are too afraid to be alone

by lurKINGaroundd



Series: that 70's show au [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Bonding, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Kissing, MJ is Little Shit, Peter is a Little Shit, Romance, That 70's Show AU no one asked, That 70's Show AU no one needed, everyone is a little shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-21 00:01:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16565657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lurKINGaroundd/pseuds/lurKINGaroundd
Summary: Michelle fucking giggled.A giggle directed to Peter Parker, the sweetest nerd on earth.Because she loved him.Holy shit.That 70's Show AU that no one asked and no one needed, but I wrote it anyway.





	love is for losers who are too afraid to be alone

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys, here I go again! I hope you're still into this.
> 
> I strongly recommend you to read the whole series, so it can make sense, beginning here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16400438
> 
> I hope it's good enough. Please, enjoy!

Michelle Jones never thought she would ever do something to try and impress someone.

That was the case, until she started dating Peter.

And no, she’s not trying to impress the boy, but someone else, his aunt.

For some reason, she really wants the woman to like her, and that was something hard to deal with, mainly because she never tried to give a good impression to anyone.

Not to kids her age, and not to adults.

Now, there she was, having dinner with the Parkers, and even though she didn’t go out of her way to change something about her, she felt self-conscious.

The concept of feeling self-conscious was also something new, she never really gave a shit to have time to be too aware or to care about anything or anyone.

MJ finally discovered how it felt, and she didn’t like it.

She even felt bad for Peter who is the type of person who deals with this unnecessary amount of self-awareness. 

It’s tiring.

Michelle didn’t quite learn politeness at home, and she doesn’t really care for it, since a lot of what people call ‘being polite’ is just a bunch of people making useless politeness rules and being annoyingly phony.

The Brants knew her since she was kid, due to her friendship with Betty. 

So when she moved into their basement, they knew what they were getting themselves into. 

And that lifted the weight out of her shoulders of having to pretend to be a nice kid to be accepted in the house.

Not that she acted like a jerk with the Brants, she was grateful and helped them out, but fake politeness? Nah.

Aunt May… MJ couldn’t help but feel a need to impress her, to make herself look acceptable in front of such a nice lady.

A nice lady that didn’t give her the creeps. 

That was rare.

A part of Michelle also knew that she wanted so badly to be liked because her soul had already completely accepted the fact that Peter was a really important aspect of her, and for the first time in her life, she had to act serious about something, about someone.

So when Peter popped the question, she freaked out, almost. 

She didn’t let it show.

Not that he asked her to marry him, no. 

But. 

“So, uh, I’ve been wondering… Actually, May has been asking me about this, so… Do you want to hang out with us, you know, like for dinner, this Sunday?”

Peter wasn’t unsure about his question, but about what might follow after he asked.

Her eyes widened in a stupid way, but thank God she had her yellow sunglasses on while holding a copy of a Toni Morrison book that covered her face.

Another book from Stark’s library, since stealing Tony and Pepper’s books was one of her hobbies now.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” MJ managed to answer.

“Really?” Peter seemed surprised.

“Yeah, why not?” She said back.

And then he smiled that bright smile of his, and gave her a quick and happy kiss to her cheek. 

“Awesome! I’m going to tell May.” Peter enthusiastically ran from her basement to break the news to his aunt.

He could have just called his house, but well, apparently he would like to deliver the answer in person.

If a simple yes to a dinner could make him that happy and bubbly, she can handle it, right?

Well, she hopes so.

And that’s why the day before the dinner, she asked for the girls’ help.

There it was, something she was sure she would never do.

Have a girls’ night where the subject of the meeting wasn’t about tearing down the patriarchy.

What a shame.

“I always knew that if Jones would ever do something to impress someone, it would be to impress a woman.” Betty said.

“Right. Never expected it to be Peter’s aunt, though.” Gwen added. Both of them apparently having fun.

“Can you blondies shut up, and help me here? Does it look okay?” Michelle asked as she got out of her little room, and gave an awkward twirl to show the dark blue dress she was wearing.

Awkward. 

There it was, another thing she didn’t quite know how it felt, but apparently now she knew, because that’s what she felt in the dress.

“It looks good, it’s my dress for church, so it’s good.” Gwen commented.

“I can’t believe you, of all people, go to church. That’s such a hypocrite move.” Michelle said.

“I can’t believe you, of all people, is wearing a dress for someone else. That’s such a hypocrite move.” Gwen talked back.

MJ grimaced. “Burn.”

A good burn, she had to admit.

“I still don’t get why you’re doing this.” Betty started saying. “You’re clearly not comfortable wearing this beautiful dress, and besides, May is really nice, you don’t need to do all that.”

Michelle groaned out of frustration. “That’s why! She’s nice! That’s the problem-”

The basement’s door opened.

“Hey, guys, is Ned upstai-”

Of course it was Peter, of course they left the door unlocked. 

Not that locking it would make all that difference, everyone of the gang had the key and they always used it as they pleased.

“Wow.” Peter exclaimed with a sigh when she saw Michelle.

MJ was thinking about using the dress to dinner, but she wasn’t ready just yet for Peter to see her wearing it.

And that gave her the definitive answer, that she really didn’t want to be doing this.

A few seconds passed, and the awed look on Peter’s face, the look of a boy that just saw the girl he liked in a cute dress, disappeared. 

“I didn’t know you had a dress.”

“Uh, it’s Gwen’s.”

The other girls stood there, not quite sure what to do.

“Why are you- I mean, it looks g-good, but, uh…” He pointed his thumb to the door behind him. “Actually, can we, uh, can we talk?”

Michelle went after him after he walked out of the basement, whatever they were going to be talking about, she’d rather do it without the observing eyes of the others.

They stopped at the Brants’ garage. 

It reminded her of when they finally sorted things out in that same garage.

She always thought about this moment whenever she passed in the place.

But now, Peter had a troubled expression on his face. She wondered why, exactly.

Was it because of the dress? He said it looked good, though.

He didn’t actually like it?

And even if that was the case, he wasn’t the type to meddle with whatever she wore, so that was weird.

“We, we can cancel it, you know?” Peter finally said.

“What?” She didn’t get it.

“The dinner, if, if it makes you uncomfortable… Uh, shit, I totally made you uncomfortable.”

“No, wait. Why are you saying this? Did you hear what we were talking about down in the basement?” MJ asked, a bit of anger threatening to come out.

“What? No!” He denied. “I don’t go randomly using my powers to hear people’s conversation for no reason, I would go crazy if I did!”

A pause. “Also, now that you said that, you were totally talking to the girls about how bad this dinner idea was, right?”

Oh, she boycotted herself there.

“No, I wasn’t. Why would you think that?”

“Because you’ve been acting kinda weird since I invited you. And you just basically confessed! Also… The dress.”

“What about the dress?”

“I, I absolutely don’t want to interfere with what is your thing or not, but it doesn’t look… It doesn’t sound like you.”

Of course he would notice. Anyone would notice, really.

“If this is making you uncomfortable, you don’t have to do this, you know that.” Peter declared.

“Yeah, I know.”

“I’m actually impressed that you just didn’t deny my invitation if you didn’t like it. You don’t need to do weird things to show me you don’t want anything to do with this, just… just tell me, please.”

Peter noticed, but the brat still got something wrong. 

She wasn’t trying to pull on a show to make it clear how unwanted the dinner idea was. 

But of course, he wouldn’t be Peter if he wasn’t dense about something in the end.

It also hurt her a little. 

‘Just tell me, please.’ He had said. 

It made it sound like they weren’t in the same page, and she had a guess that he felt that way due to his bad experience in his last relationship, and the fact that Michelle was indeed evasive in her own way.

“No, it’s not like I don’t want to be part of this.” MJ clarified.

Peter seemed a bit confused. “Then, why?”

She sighed. “You know, visual is effective to make a good impression, and I thought that even if I acted like myself, if I had something like a stupid dress, maybe it would help me look good.”

“What are you talking about? Good impression?”

“Your aunt May!” Michelle drove to the point. “I… Everyone says how nice she is, and she seems really, really nice, and I’m… not.”

Vulnerable.

That was the word she was looking for to describe what she was feeling. 

Another thing she wasn’t used to.

For a moment, MJ was vulnerable.

“You’re not what?”

“I’m not nice! Damn it, Peter!” She exclaimed. “I’m a troublemaker most likely to have no future!”

“That’s crazy!” He almost yelled back. “I’m the troublemaker most likely to have no future! Do you really want to compete who’s the more reckless and stupid here? I literally go swinging from building to building while wearing a spider costume, for God’s sake!”

“Fuck you, Peter! When I finally get you to admit that you wear a spider costume just because you’re a weirdo, you do this when we’re having a serious discussion about our relationship?”

“Yeah! Besides, just because you like beer and weed, does it immediately means that you’re badder than me? Absolutely not!”

“What are you talking about, nerd? I live in a basement because my parents fucking left me!”

“And my parents… are dead!”

She scoffed. “So now we are competing sob stories? Great! The cops hate me!”

“Well, they hate me, too! Even though it’s for a completely different reason… Your reason is worse.”

“Yeah, that racist organization.”

“They’re really rotten.” Peter agreed.

Michelle blinked. “Wait, what were we even talking about?

“About my aunt, I think.” 

“Right.”

She took a deep breath.

MJ had to make herself clear.

No stupid bickering.

“I, I’m insecure right now, you know.” She began “And I’m not used to that shitty feeling so that’s why I was stupid enough to think that a dress would solve it. But what I need you to understand is that it’s not that I don’t want to do this. I’m being serious. And even though it scares me, when I’m supposed to be fearless, I didn’t deny your invitation right away because you’re important.”

“Wow.” 

He was in awe again because of her, now for a different reason.

“Yeah. And you being important, and me caring about you, you need to know that now… that does sound like me.”

His eyes watered a bit. “You, you still don’t need the dress.”

“I know.”

“You don’t need to be fearless all the time. I’m here if you need. I know it can get tiring.” Peter expressed his support.

She answered to that with humor. “Oh, so you want to be the man I can depend on, and lean on, to hold me during cold nights?”

“T-that’s not what I meant!” His cheeks reddened a bit due to the teasing. “Not that the idea is all that bad.”

“Idiot.” MJ said back in an endearing tone.

“May is going to love you, I swear.” He assured her.

“I hope.”

He softly grabbed her hand, and held it, drawing circles on her skin.

“No, really. I mean, she’s really cool. She talks about how she went to some protests against the Vietnam war, I bet you would enjoy her stories. Also, I think she has read half of the books you like to read. Well, she loves disco, but I guess you guys can get past that.”

Michelle fucking giggled.

A giggle directed to Peter Parker, the sweetest nerd on earth.

Because she loved him.

Holy shit.

Once, she had said to Betty, “You know that love is? Love is for losers who are too afraid to be alone.”

That sure has backfired. 

It blew up right in her face.

But she didn’t hate it.

This one time, she would let herself be a hypocrite.

“C’mon,” Michelle gestured them to get back to the basement, where Betty and Gwen weren’t anymore. “Let’s go to my bedroom.”

“Why?”

Oh, sweet, sweet, naive Peter.

She smirked. “To help me get out of this dress.”

“Why would you need help- Oh!” He said as he finally understood.

“Yeah.”

“Oh, fine, I, I’ll help.”

 

The next day, at night, they were at Peter’s place. 

Michelle always thought that Betty’s house looked pretty cozy, and she felt the same at the Parkers’ small apartment.

May once again, surprised her with an unexpected warm hug as she entered the house. 

Truly welcoming and sincere.

MJ was glad she was wearing her regular clothes, even if she was without her sunglasses.

It was still her comfort zone, it was her.

She felt a certain amount of self-consciousness, but because May always had something to say, and Michelle was smart enough to come up with good things to say back, she could feel at ease bit by bit.

Peter’s presence was always so soothing and that also helped.

MJ observed May’s gestures, way of talking, and she realized there was a bit of May in Peter. 

The woman was indeed the greatest influence in the boy’s life.

Maybe that was the reason why he would be called ‘delicate’ by stupid boys at school, as if it was an offense. 

He was indeed soft and delicate, it was May rubbing off on him, and Michelle thought that was so great.

She looked around the living room, and noticed a black and white photo glued to one of the walls.

It was a little Peter up on the shoulder of May’s late husband, Ben, and the woman by their side.

Michelle had heard about uncle Ben, but very briefly.

She would wait for him to open up to her about it whenever he wanted.

It was an endearing picture.

They seemed to be in the middle of a crowd, by the people holding posters, Michelle guessed the photo was taken during a protest.

She smiled when she noticed the couple’s clothes. 

Hippies.

It made sense. 

Michelle could notice the remaining of hippie’s clothing on May, like the long floral dress she was wearing for dinner.

It suited her.

“You know,” May was saying playfully. “I’m happy Peter found you, I was afraid he would end up dating a boring girl like him.”

“I’m right here.” Peter whined. “Please, don’t call me boring in front of my girlfriend, it’s embarrassing.”

“And what’s not embarrassing for you, Peter?” MJ hopped on the train of mocking Peter together with May.

What a way to bond with the almost mother of your boyfriend, right?

“The food is really good, May.” Michelle complimented. 

The woman had already convinced MJ to call her ‘just May’.

“Oh, don’t mention it.” 

Peter faked a cough.

May rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. Peter cooked almost everything.”

Oh, she didn’t know that.

MJ would never get tired of the nice feeling she had whenever she found out about a new little thing about him.

“So, you’re good cook, huh. If cooking abilities weren’t skills needed to any human being to live, I would say that you could be a pretty good husband.” Michelle was glad that May could appreciate her humor.

Her laugh was as good as Peter’s. 

Maybe it’s a family thing.

He blushed at the compliment, at the innocent teasing, and at the ‘husband’ word.

Peter couldn’t find words to describe the sheer happiness he felt while the most important women of his life were right there, bonding over dinner, and if being made fun of was the price to pay to get to watch it, then he would pay it without a problem.

As the night passed, after Michelle noticed the paintings that were spread on the apartment’s walls, and May said something about a student, she decided to ask.

“What do you do? Your work, I mean.” MJ never heard about May’s profession or career.

“Oh, I’m an art teacher. I teach middle school.” The woman answered.

Michelle thought about asking something like, ‘Why didn’t you tell me, Peter?’ but then he would be like, ‘You never asked.’ 

MJ asked about the paintings, and May excitedly gave her a tour around the tiny place just to talk about each piece she had exposed at home. 

Oh.

Art.

She remembered how she always doodled on her notes just because she didn’t want to listen to her teachers.

But it was stupid, right? 

Her drawings, they were nothing.

Then, she also remembered the time one teacher had said to her, “You have potential.”

Does she?

At the time, she didn’t believe the teacher. 

Michelle was sure he was just trying to fool her into the stupid pipe dream of ‘you have talent, you have future even though you’re a misfit rebel’.

College was a joke for her, but now, maybe… 

“Your drawings are really cool too!” Peter said, as if he was reading her mind.

“How do you…?”

“We were studying together, remember? I saw your notes.” Then he got closer to her, whispering, so May couldn’t hear, so she had no chance to show any disapproval. “Or, you know, the lack of them.”

She hit him softly with her elbow.

“You’re interested in drawing, Michelle?” 

The same way MJ couldn’t get the Brants to call her just Jones, she allowed May to call her by Michelle too.

“Uh, not really… Just, just a bit.” She answered.

“That’s great! I’d love to help an aspiring artist, if you want some advice you can call me! Female artists are going to change the world, I’m telling you!”

Michelle smiled softly, and allowed herself to be, to aspire. 

Artists are wild souls, right? She was already that.

Wild, strong, challenging.

And she knew that these were all good qualities.

Maybe this was the beginning of something.

Michelle always thought that the talk about changing the system from inside out was bullshit.

Actually, she didn’t really change her mind about that.

But maybe if she could make some noise.

Be louder.

Then maybe it was worth a shot.

For her loved ones around her, for the ones like her, and for herself, of course.

The seed was planted in her mind.

 

Michele hung out in Peter’s bedroom before she had to go home.

She didn’t want to stay over on her first day visiting, even she knew it wasn’t a really cool thing to do.

It was her first time in his bedroom. 

It was as nerdy as she thought it would be. 

“You know, we should do this again, but with Mr. Stark too, if he has some free time.” He suggested.

MJ omitted her usual comment of ‘I don’t trust rich people.’, and instead asked. “Is he like a father figure to you?”

He blushed a little. “Y-yeah, I guess, kinda.”

“It’s okay.” Michelle said with a soft voice that she was now getting used to hear coming out of her mouth when she was talking to him. “It’s kinda like that for me too, with Betty’s parents.”

“They’re cool.” 

“Yeah, and Stark is also cool, I guess. May is the best.”

Peter smiled widely. “I told you.”

MJ narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know… I saw her disco records… I think we still have a long way to go.” She joked. 

To go home, Michelle had her car, but Peter insisted on going with her, just so they could spend a little bit more of time together.

He was taking his bag with him, with his suit inside, so he could swing back home, and do a little of patrolling.

When Peter got in the car, she noticed that he was red like a tomato.

Michelle could guess the reason. “What did May say to you?”

“T-to use protection.” He managed to answer, clearly embarrassed.

She laughed. “I knew it!”

“It was horrible.” Peter complained. “She told me a story about a high school friend of hers who got pregnant in a car.”

She kept laughing.

That night, in the car, of course, they didn’t get near the nightmare of teenage pregnancy, but they were a little brave.

And Michelle noticed, that even though Peter could still be a shy mess, he was getting bolder.

She could tell it by the way he wasn’t hesitating to hover over her, making moves without her needing to say what she wanted.

“Did you read some book?” She asked, curious but obviously not complaining by this slight change of behavior.

By the way he avoided her eyes, she got her answer.

Yeah, he had done done some research in his free time.

This time, they were back in the same position they were when Betty had interrupted them last time.

When she finally felt his mouth around her sensitive skin like that… A moan, one a bit louder, escaped her lips.

And the she saw it on his lips.

The smirk.

A smirk on Peter’s face.

She hated how she liked it, but she couldn’t allow it.

No, she couldn’t allow him to get cocky.

And she was about to show him who was in charge, when a police’s siren interrupted them.

Fortunately, it wasn’t near. 

They weren’t in trouble.

But that didn’t mean they hadn’t to stop.

Because her boyfriend is freaking Spider-Man.

“Oh, c’mon!” MJ whined, and Peter groaned in annoyance too.

She wore her clothes back again, and he wore his suit.

“You know what to do, send me any kind of signal that you’re alive.”

“Okay.”And he was about to put on his mask, but she stopped him.

Michelle also hated how she found him extremely attractive in his spidey suit.

She gave him one last kiss on the mouth.

“Go get ‘em, tiger.” MJ said in her best seductive voice.

Peter couldn’t find words to answer, he just smiled at her, just completely in love, and went way, feeling like the king of the world.

Yeah, maybe she inflated the boy’s ego this time.

Michelle would let him be for now, he deserved it.

She’s going to have a lot of opportunities to show him who’s boss.

**Author's Note:**

> (English is not my native language, so I apologize for any mistakes.)
> 
> Ps: I'm sorry for the lack of Ned in this one, haha.
> 
> I think we may be heading to an end with this series, what do you think?
> 
> Please, leave me a comment and reviews. It' so so important. The feedback means a lot, and it motivates me, it's what makes me write!
> 
> (Yell at me on @lurkingg-around on tumblr! Feel free to ask anything!)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!!


End file.
